President-FPCCI Condemns Formation of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Karachi (PR): Haji Fazal Kadir Khan Sherani, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has strongly condemned the statement by the so-called President of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) published in a section of the press recently.

In this regard, FPCCI would like to clarify that the usage of the term “Joint Chamber” by PAJCCI is a misnomer, as the body has been formed not as a result of an agreement between the national chambers of Pakistan and Afghanistan, but rather as an agreement between the national chamber of Afghanistan, and three district-level chambers from Pakistan. It may be pointed out that FPCCI, which encompasses 48 chambers of commerce and industry and 96 trade associations, is the apex body of Pakistan’s private sector. FPCCI is the national chamber of commerce, and incidentally, the three regional chambers representing Pakistan in PAJCCI are all members of FPCCI. In the presence of a national chamber which has a well-established practice of signing MoUs with counterpart bodies (for example, the India Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, formed as a result of collaboration between FPCCI and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FICCI); the need for a parallel arrangement without the involvement of FPCCI appears not only unnecessary but also illegal.

Furthermore, it is extremely unfortunate that this body has been formed with the patronage of the British High Commission, and we sincerely believe that any funding by the High Commission or any other agency directed towards this joint chamber would be illegal, and would certainly lead to complications of great magnitude, thereby not setting a good precedent for the future.

It may be further mentioned that FPCCI has already raised the issue of formation of this joint chamber with both the Ministry of Commerce and the British High Commission very categorically, but we have not received any response from them which means that the FPCCI’s stance has been accepted.